Maybe the Pixel team didn't talk to the Maps team. Maybe they did and the maps team said they didn't care. Maybe everyone involved in all of these features has since left the company. With Google, who knows?
Whoa I had no idea this happened. I used to be a part of a group that would go in and add street view for places like public transit stations so people could gauge accessibility. It's such a shame that Google killed that ability...
I can't find the name, but he used to reply to people on the support forum. I can't even find the support forum now...
They also killed the Android app in 2021.
I just tried the photo sphere mode again for old times' sake. It sure hasn't gotten any better. Maybe they're removing it so they can make and release a better version, but I won't hold my breath.
I mean, maybe, but hear me out: what if - crazy idea right here - they finish a fucking project before killing off the old one? Or, even wilder, maybe they improve the existing project? I'm about to blow this ceos mind with these radical ideas.
Maybe not do things like...
Gmail to Inbox to Gmail;
GPlay Music to YT music;
Reader to;
Hangouts to Messenger to Alo to Messages to Chat (or whatever the fuck it's called now) to Messages (but with RCS so it's okay we improved it we swear) ;
Google is like an adhd teen with no adult supervision or medication. It just decides that project x isn't fun anymore and abandons it, but y will totally be better except it never is because y gets abandoned too because ooooh shiny.
I'm not angry at all, noooooo. It's not like most of the projects I used have been axed and replaced (or not) with shittier alternatives. I absolutely love moving friends and family to systems for a few months just to hear about 'why doesn't x work anymore' and 'you said x would be around for a while'. Fuck you, Google.
Trust me, I still haven't gotten over the untimely deaths of Inbox or Play Music, and my comment history will show me raging about Google's inability to have a coherent messaging strategy. (By the way, you forgot the original Google Chat which was killed off before Hangouts!)
It's the same story every time. An app/service with excellent potential, left to stagnate for years, retired. It's at the point I don't bother trying anything new Google puts out because I can't trust that I won't be rugpulled again.
Edit: my mistake, it was called Google Talk, which was renamed to Gmail Chat, which was killed off in favor of Hangouts.
It's a poor person's VR. Turns your phone into a VR headset. Ever sat on the couch and watched a bunch of YouTube videos? Or a TV show/movie? Put on the daydream, and you are sitting in a virtual theatre. It's good when you need the house to be quiet because everyone is in bed. I'd say 90% of my Daydream usage is watching stuff like Youtube/Netflix.
It's amazing when you are on a flight. It totally takes you away from the plane experience. Also really neat when travelling in general. Sitting in a hotel room watching content on a virtual big screen and not the pokey little hotel TV.
I loved this picture feature when out and about in nature. I loved adding them to Maps too! I've used this feature for about 10 years now. I can't believe they are getting rid of it. It was so fun and something I thought others would add to their camera app
That’s what I mean, is google is hostile to its users by canceling features people use all the time. It’s just hard to feel invested in anything they do besides like YouTube and search
Maaaaan....
I didn't use this for 360 photos, but as a workaround for the broken panorama mode.
Every panorama photo I take with my pixel 6 is blurry - I believe it's a bug where the camera doesn't refocus when taking the next image
The thing that upsets me about this is that there's a way to basically post photospheres to Google maps. So in distant locations where there's interesting features (far away from a road) you can do a photosphere and essentially make it public on maps, so anyone can experience that location from anywhere in the world anytime they want.
Google maps generally only has "Street view" that's provided and almost all other location ground-based view is a submission by someone.
This will sharply end the ability for people to add more of that or simply update any that already exist.
Honestly, I played around with it for a little bit and then never used it again. Of course one of the reasons was that it was so hidden and I simply forgot.
I used to use it when I took panoramic pictures on my phone. I always use Photo Sphere because it outputs a much more consistent result compared to regular panorama mode.
I just went and looked, but couldn't find a credible alternative on Android. Found an open source option that claimed to do spherical stitching, but crashed my phone when I tried to use it. I also stumbled upon the 360 videos I made with my Essential Phone, which I'd forgotten about but was kind of cool going into my past from that perspective. Honestly, the best replacement seems to be a 360 camera, which obviously doesn't fall within the budget of many people
What's the point of keeping a feature as experimental for over 5 years? It was more relevant when Daydream and Cardboard were a thing and I have not heard one single person mention this feature as a plus point for buying a Pixel. Nobody cares about it now and the feature works like ass in the modern day.